How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?

(Mumbles of assent)

When he's standing, in front of you

A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Who are some good social skills therapists in Pompano Beach, Florida?

There you go.^†

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

What’s the weirdest phone call you have ever received?

"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"

Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:

"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"

Is it okay if I sleep with my brother without my husband knowing?

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"

"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"

Is the water safe to drink in England like here in America or is it necessary to bring tablets to prevent any cholera when in London?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.

In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:

Do you think your landlord should have a key to your room?

"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"

^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).

[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."

For an unpublished short story writer, what magazines or online publications offer the best chance of being recognized?

Whatever.

[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"

… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*

How are max different from medical and minimum security prisons?

You can have your cake and eat it too

Whatever.

They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.

I think that being gay is wrong, but I treat gay people respectfully like any other person. Is it homophobic? Or offensive in any kind of way? Aren’t disagreement and discrimination two different things?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.

"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."

How do great movie moments influence how people handle real-life moral dilemmas?